Why We Don't Vaccinate
This article is from an organization known as
WAVES (Warnings About Vaccine Expectations).
Although written for New Zealanders, it serves as a good introduction to why parents worldwide are choosing to no longer vaccinate.
THE DECLINE OF INFECTIOUS DISEASES
Vaccination has not been responsible for the major decline in infectious
diseases, despite what you may have heard from those promoting vaccines.
Improvements in living conditions including improved sanitation, hygiene,
water supplies and housing, better nutrition and isolation procedures
have been the main reasons for this. In New Zealand the death rate from
childhood diseases declined by up to 98 between 1890 and the 1940s before
vaccination was introduced.
The death rate also declined for diseases for which no vaccine was ever introduced.
For example, scarlet fever declined steadily throughout the 20th century to the
point of being almost eradicated without the use of vaccination. The decline
in the death rate from measles, whooping cough, tuberculosis and diphtheria
in New Zealand before vaccination is mirrored by the statistics from other
countries such as the United States, England, Wales and Australia.
Graphs illustrating these historical trends can be found on many websites including:
VacTruth.com,
Vaccination Dilemma,
Vaccination Liberation, and
Child Health Safety.
DISEASE, THE IMMUNE SYSTEM AND VACCINES
Modern infectious disease treatment, including vaccination,
has its theoretic underpinnings in the "germ theory"
as attributed to Louis Pasteur. Pasteur said "The microbe causes
the illness. Look for the microbe, and you'll understand the illness."
His followers today in the medical-industrial complex have conveniently
forgotten that he also said "I'm convinced that when a wound becomes
infected and festers, the course that the wound takes depends upon the
patient's general condition and even his mental condition."
On his deathbed, Pasteur is alleged to have made a retraction saying "Bechamp
is right. The microbe is nothing, the terrain is everything."
The fact that the environment of the host (human) is key in determining
the progression of disease is anathema to the pharmaceutical industry.
Their business model would collapse overnight if the public understood that.
Vaccines are commonly believed to work by producing
antibodies. However, a number of researchers have found that the presence
of antibodies only indicates that the immune system has come into contact
with an antigen. One medical paper said that "it is known that,
in many instances, antigen-specific antibody litres do not correlate with
protection. For example, it has been established that there is
no clear correlation between antibody levels and protection against whooping
cough and that there is no generally accepted laboratory measure of immunity.
The medical community does not have even a basic understanding of the
human new-born immune system. Studies show that the immune systems of
new-born animals can easily be perturbed to ensure that they cannot respond
properly later in life. Two generations of vaccination has made today's
babies more vulnerable to disease because vaccinated women pass fewer antibodies
on to their babies than those women who have natural immunity to disease.
This makes babies of vaccinated women more susceptible to disease in the
first year of life.". Vaccination has been proven in medical
studies to make children more susceptible to disease for a period afterwards
due to its "overload" effect on the immune system leading to generally
lowered resistance. Viral vaccines have been shown to depress cellular
immunity, which serves as the body's first line of defence against infection
and disease. This suppression of the cellular immune system results
not in the prevention of disease but the inability of the body to manifest,
to respond to and to overcome disease!
VACCINE MANUFACTURE
Vaccines contain very toxic substances that are poisonous to our bodies.
For example, many vaccines contain formaldehyde, an extremely toxic compound
and a known carcinogen. Many vaccines also contain aluminium which frequently
causes reactions at the injection site and can cause an allergic response
to subsequent doses of the vaccine. Aluminium has been associated with
Alzheimer's disease and dementia.
Two vaccines (flu and adult tetanus-diphtheria)
still contain Thimerosal (49% mercury by weight). Mercury is a heavy metal,
second only to plutonium in toxicity. Concerns about the toxicity
of mercury in vaccines and links between Thimerosal and a vast number
of illnesses and disabilities led to calls for Thimerosal to be removed
from childhood vaccines. However, the flu vaccine is recommended for
pregmant women, children over the age of 6 months and the adult
tetanus-diphtheria is scheduled at eleven years of age.
In some vaccines 2-phenoxyethanol has replaced thimerosal
as a preservative. It is commonly used as a solvent for dyes, inks and
resins, in germicides, and in other pharmaceuticals. It is an irritant
for the skin, eyes, mucous membranes and respiratory tract and reactions
to exposure can include coughing, headache, abdominal pain and nausea. Even more toxic is
beta-propriolactone which is a known carcinogen but used in vaccines as a sterilant.
Vaccines are manufactured using animal and human tissue
including fetal calf blood, chick embryo fluid, canine and monkey kidney cells and
human diploid cells which are derived from aborted human fetuses.
Vaccines contain DNA derived from the cell culture and may contain unknown
viruses. The presence of contaminating viruses or integrated gene
sequences from cancer causing viruses is a major health concern and total
safety requires the complete absence of DNA from the vaccines. Viruses
that have contaminated vaccines include avian leukosis virus from chick
embryos and bovine viral diarrhea virus from fetal calf blood. Continuous
monkey cell cultures can cause tumours and human foetal cells are also
susceptible to malignancy.
The most infamous episode of vaccine contamination
is that of polio vaccines with the SV40 virus in the 1950s and 60s. This
simian (monkey) virus contaminated both the killed and live virus vaccines
that were administered to millions of children. It has been confirmed
beyond doubt that the vims has caused a variety of cancers in a large
number of vaccinees. SV40 has also been found in the sperm and blood
of healthy people indicating that the virus can be transmitted
from generation to generation along gene lines.
Live virus vaccines have been proven to cause the disease
that they are supposed to prevent in vaccine recipients and their close
contacts. The most well known of these is the oral polio vaccine in which
the polio virus can be excreted in the faeces of the vaccine recipient
for six to eight weeks after vaccination and can infect non-immune people.
Measles, mumps, hepatitis A and chickenpox vaccines have also
all been documented to have caused the disease in vaccinees and close
contacts who have no immunity.
VACCINE EFFICACY
Vaccines are not effective in preventing the disease that they are
supposed to protect against. There are many, many medical studies documenting
outbreaks of disease in highly vaccinated populations; some outbreaks
have occurred in 100% vaccinated communities. In New Zealand in 1999, 68%
of the notified cases of whooping cough were fully vaccinated. In the
1984-85 New Zealand measles epidemic in children over 15 months old (the
age for vaccination) 40% of the cases of measles occurred in vaccinated
children. In the US there are frequent measles outbreaks in 98-100%
vaccinated communities.
Outbreaks of chicken pox, mumps, rubella and polio have also
occurred in highly vaccinated populations. Numerous studies have found
that immunity to hepatitis B lasts only five to ten years after vaccination.
One study found that only 50% of vaccinated people had any immunity after
four years, and in another study 61% of teenagers had no immunity 14 years
after vaccination.
One large WHO (World Health Organization) trial involving
260,000 people, that was done on the BCG vaccine for tuberculosis, found
more cases of TB in the vaccinated group than the unvaccinated and concluded
that there was no evidence of a protective effect from the vaccine.
VACCINE SAFETY
All vaccines can cause adverse reactions and most vaccines can be extremely
dangerous for many children. There is no way of knowing beforehand whether
your child's reaction will be minor and short lived, or permanently
debilitating and/or lethal. In addition, there is no way of knowing whether
the vaccine will go on to cause an autoimmune condition years later.
There have been no American long-term safety studies
in which the health of vaccinated children is compared with
an unvaccinated "control" group. Vaccine safety tests are often based
on poor scientific methodology, too small, and too narrow, such as including only
reactions that occur within just a few days of the shot. In addition, the studies are
limited in the populations represented, and are not subject to independent
review due to the fact that the study raw data is not publicized by the
vaccine makers who conduct the studies. They have been found to exclude subjects
who die so the deaths are not recorded in the study.
Of course, if the subject died in a car accident, then excluding them would be proper.
But, certainly not if they die after vaccination and the cause of death is "unknown."
This type of trickery is how they reach the conclusion that vaccines are safe. Another trick
is to not use proper controls. For example, the "control" group is also vaccinated! So, when the
control group also suffers adverse events, they report that the vaccine being tested is safe
because it showed the same, or only a slightly higher rate of adverse events than the "control."
As more and more children in the world are vaccinated,
it is becoming increasingly difficult to compare the health of unvaccinated
with vaccinated children. The incidence of side-effects of vaccination
is often compared to what is called the 'background incidence' of such
a disease or condition. This "background incidence" is the usual incidence
of this occurring over the whole population. The use of vaccinated children
as controls in vaccine safety studies is unscientific.
The peer reviewed medical journals publish hundreds
of reports of serious adverse reactions to all vaccines including many
reports of permanent disability and death. Adverse reactions to vaccines
can occur soon after administration of a vaccine or progress slowly over
the following weeks or months. The list below details some of the reactions
that the manufacturers of vaccines used in New Zealand admit to. The information
has been collated from the datasheets for individual vaccines.
- Pain, hardness, redness and swelling at the
injection site.
- Fever, unusual crying, restlessness, irritability, sleeping more
or less than usual, vomiting, diarrhoea, headache, sweating, chills.
- Difficulty breathing, convulsions, inconsolable screaming,
encephalitis.
- Guillain-Barre syndrome, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, myalgia,
loss of vision or loss of hearing, thrombocytopenia, vasculitis, swelling
of the lymph nodes.
- Collapse or shock-like state, brain damage, anaphylactic reactions,
death.
In addition vaccines have been linked with or shown
to cause autism, meningitis, diabetes, SIDS, and degenerative brain diseases
leading to death. Even the CDC website lists "reduced consciousness" as a vaccine adverse reaction.
Many countries have a vaccine adverse reaction reporting
system. In New Zealand it is the Centre for Adverse Reaction Monitoring,
or CARM, in Dunedin. Like many similar systems, such as the Vaccine Adverse
Event Reporting System (VAERS) in the US, CARM is a passive surveillance
system that relies on health professionals and vaccinees voluntarily reporting
adverse reactions. In the US between 1990 and 2002, 127,435 vaccine adverse
reactions were reported to VAERS. There were 1,936 deaths reported, and
2,546 people were reported as being permanently disabled by vaccine reactions.
The US the government has paid out $1,355.4 million dollars to the families
of vaccine damaged children since 1989.
Vaccine reactions are grossly under-reported and it
is widely accepted that only 1 - 10% of all reactions are reported.
THE MONEY TRAIL AND BIG BUSINESS
The vaccine industry earns billions of dollars annually. In 1989 - 1999
in New Zealand the Health Funding Authority expenditure orr vaccination
was almost $11.8 million dollars, $6.3 million of which was just to buy
the vaccines. The manufacturers all have to provide a return on their
shareholders' investment and have been known to place profit before safety,
placing people receiving the vaccines at greater risk. Shares in pharmaceutical
companies are some of the most profitable in the world.
A large number of the studies conducted and subsequently
published in peer reviewed medical journals are funded by big pharmaceutical
companies. Many of the supposedly independent people involved in research
into the safety of vaccines, and those involved in licensing vaccines
have financial ties to the pharmaceutical companies (shares, research
funding, etc.).
Doctors and health professionals worldwide who speak
out against vaccination have been known to lose funding for research,
be ostracised by their peers and in some cases lose their jobs. In New
Zealand, for example, in 2002 the Director of Public Health made thinly
veiled threats against the job security of midwives who disseminated information
on vaccination that was not sanctioned by the Ministry of Health, suggesting
that they were in breach of their contracts and stating that he was seeking
legal advice on the matter.
CHOOSING NOT TO VACCINATE
In New Zealand vaccinating your children is not compulsory. There is no
penalty for choosing not to vaccinate. However, the Health (Immunisation)
Regulations 1995 require parents of children born since January 1995 to
show their "Immunisation Certificate" when they enroll
at an early childhood center or school. If you do not show this form,
your child will be registered as unvaccinated. No institution can force
you to present a certificate, or to have your child vaccinated in order
to enrol. In the event of a outbreak of measles or whooping cough the
Medical Officer of Health may order that healthy, unvaccinated children
be excluded from school for a period of up to two weeks.
While some vaccines are recommended for adults, e.g.
10-yearly DT boosters and flu vaccine, none are compulsory. However, if
you are considering employment in any health sector which involves working
with the public, your contract may be conditional on vaccination with
any or all vaccines, as directed. In our opinion, this constitutes mandatory
vaccination and is a breach of your right to choose your own medical care.
CHOOSING TO VACCINATE
If you choose to proceed with any vaccinations you should obtain the package
insert of the vaccine(s) and read it thoroughly. Do not accept "Patient
Information" which omits important information including side-effects.
Request the [vaccine package inserts]. Note contraindications, warnings, precautions
and adverse reactions. Ask your doctor to explain the signs and symptoms of all
adverse reactions so that you may recognise them should they occur. Factors that
can increase the risk of adverse reactions are:
- A child not well at the time of vaccination
- A family history of allergies, vaccine reactions, convulsions,
epilepsy or any other neurological or immunological problems
- A bad reaction to a previous vaccine
- An allergy to one of the ingredients in the vaccine
- Vaccinating a premature infant according to chronological not
gestational age.
Obtain the following information prior to vaccination
for your records, verified and signed by the vaccine administrator:
- Evidence that you (or your child) are healthy
- If for a child, evidence that the child is developing normally
- Time and date of administration
- Name of the vaccine administrator and his/her credentials
- Name and manufacturer of the vaccine
- The lot and batch number of the vaccine
- Written verification that the vaccine has been stored correctly
at all times.
This information is critical for obtaining Accident
Compensation coverage in the event of compensatable injury. Any vaccine
reaction should be reported on a H1574 form by your doctor, yourself,
or the person who administered the vaccine. Send the completed form to:
The National Toxicology Groups Centre for Adverse Reaction Monitoring,
PO Box 913, Dunedin, New Zealand.
Ensure that ALL symptoms are recorded on the form and
retain a copy for your own records. Request verification in writing that
the data has been entered into their computer. The form should be available
from your doctor but can be obtained by writing to the Toxicology Centre
for Adverse Reactions.
"The only safe vaccine is a vaccine that is
never used." Dr. James A. Shannon, National Institutes of
Health (USA)
"Immunisation barely figures as a protection
against death... At the end of the day, whether you immunise or not isn't
going to make a hell of a lot of difference to the death rates."
Dr Campbell Murdoch, Professor of General Practice, Otago Medical School,
1983 - 1992
"There is insufficient evidence to support
routine vaccination of healthy persons of any age." Paul Frame,
M.D., Journal of Family Practice
"The greatest threat of childhood disease lies
in the dangerous and ineffectual efforts made to prevent them through
mass immunisation." Dr Robert Mendelsohn, Paediatrician and
Author
UNVACCINATED CHILDREN ARE HEALTHIER
Unvaccinated children are generally healthier than their vaccinated siblings,
cousins and schoolmates. A 1992 IAS survey on the incidence of chronic
conditions showed that vaccinated children suffer significantly more from
asthma, eczema, ear infections, tonsillitis, ADHD and apnoea attacks than
unvaccinated children. There were 269 unvaccinated children and 226 vaccinated
children surveyed from throughout New Zealand. Across a wide range of
diseases, unvaccinated children always came out ahead. Another, independent
survey by Dr Mike Godfrey in 1999 returned similar results from 864 children,
260 of whom were unvaccinated and 604 of whom were vaccinated. This survey
found that incidence of asthma, eczema and tonsillitis was significantly
higher in vaccinated children. The incidence of each of eleven chronic
childhood conditions in vaccinated and unvaccinated children expressed
as a percentage of the total vaccinated and unvaccinated children surveyed.
In a healthy well-nourished child with a healthy immune
system, the vast majority of childhood diseases are mild and self-limiting.
In fact, these diseases serve to strengthen and mature a child's immune
system, enabling it to function better when facing more serious challenges
later inlife.
"I cannot see how it is justifiable to promote
mass vaccination of children everywhere against diseases which are generally
mild, which confer lasting immunity, and which most children escape or
overcome easily without being vaccinated. " Professor Gordon
Stewart, Department of Community Medicine, University of Glasgow.
INFORMED CONSENT
In New Zealand health professionals have a legal obligation to obtain
informed consent before vaccinating a child or adult. Informed consent
can only be provided by a patient or caregiver (parent) when the patient
or caregiver has considered all the information pertaining to the risks
and benefits of vaccination. There is pressure on health professionals
to provide only information that is sanctioned by the Ministry of Health.
However, "official" information is incomplete and it is recognised
by New Zealand consumer advocacy and health organisations that further
information is necessary in order for people to be able to make an informed
decision.
